Mercury Lounge and Josh Maul Band
(Go to www.myspace.com/joshmaulbluesband to hear what we heard. )
MJQs, I am telling you, we will do this again. I was expecting some scar-metal or pop-schmop SCADDie stuff on Feb. 29th at our Leap Year Lounge Party, but babies, I was happily surprised. The Josh Maul Band and the diverse crowd we were part of at the Mercury Lounge made me feel like I was in NOLA in some cool bar in the Quarter. Queen Aida, (Linda) had promised me a low-down, fun time and she delivered. The rhythm and blues coming from this Richmond Hill based three-piece band was smooth and deep. Sadly, 4 of our party didn’t have ID’s so the guy at the door would not let them in. They headed to LuLu’s for martinis. Eight daring divine MJQs and Ladies sat right up front and grooved to the music. A mural of the Rat Pack and The Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, smiled from the wall behind Lee,the drummer. The bassist, Randy and guitar and vocal, Josh were squeezed into the corner. Jukeboxes took the other corner. The bar is small and when we got there, it was not full. Aida got a table and the band started playing at 9:00 pm. Seems usually the live local music starts around 10:00. We got lucky. I had Amstels that were 4.00 and mixed drinks were very reasonable. Just call the brand. You don’t want the house liquor. Lola ordered wings that were nice and Barbara got quesadillas for the table. Honey Love, Lucy, Lola, Aida, and I (Babette) decided we need club names, so start thinking of one.
The MJQs danced and danced! I have not had this much fun in months. You won’t know a soul at the Mercury Lounge, but that’s OK. In fact, it is better. Nobody to impress. There were average middle aged couple, hip little old men, and super young college girls. One asked me if I was wearing the tiara for my birthday. I said no that I was was just raising a little Cain. She shook her cig in my direction and said, “Hell yeah! I love that sh#@. Good for you .”
The band came over to our table after the first set to…get this…thank us for coming out and shaking our stuff on the dance floor. Honeys, when have the Queens been welcomed so royally. I love that about this band. Next one of the bartenders actually thanks us for coming, too. Yep. No nose in the air snoots here.
Now normally, I can’t take really loud music and smoking bars. Even when I was 21 it was not something I could do without getting a splitting headache. I think I figured out the key. If you want to have conversation and chat, no music or very low background works in some cute bar with over priced wine. If you like to dance and listen to R&B then a little smoke and a loudness is just what you need. This band does classic R&B as well as their own stuff.
Come on with us the next time the queens go clubbing, (if you dare) and shake your stuff on the dance floor. (By the way, the dance floor is really a small space around the jukebox and the band, so no pressure, baby.)
Go to www.myspace.com/joshmaulbluesband to see when they play again and to listen to some of their stuff. Turn up your volume and click the playlist on the side. Excellent.